I'm a summer girl at heart, and love the long warm days it brings. The first few hours after sunrise is my favorite part of these days too. To really let you in on my secret, the best way to enjoy those first few hours is to take my steaming cup of coffee out to my vegetable garden and smell the fresh morning air! The plants are perky from their cool nights rest and seem to be reaching out to catch the dew filtered, first rays of sun!
The quiet calmness is addictive. Occasionally a bird will break out in morning song to greet the new day.
The calmness is usually quickly interrupted by the Peeps discovering my whereabouts! They know where to look for me, and I let them in on my morning wonderments! Maybe a new bloom, maybe a busy bee working hard gathering pollen, maybe a zucchini (or 5) to harvest or a fresh bunch of basil to smell! My hope is that they will come to appreciate the simple joy found in the "fruit of the ground", and the amazement of the One who created it!
This morning was not a typical June morning in California, as we woke up to a cloudy overcast sky and a slight drizzle of rain! I was not complaining though, and my garden seem to burst forth with even more appreciation! The color of green that they displayed was so beautiful that I couldn't resist going back in for my camera! Capturing these details of my little sanctuary was even more rewarding, as looking through the lens of a camera can sometimes bring about a perspective I've never seen before!
The lens of a camera also can be a bit deceiving as these pictures hide a lot imperfections that are in among the brilliant green! I consider myself fairly new at the whole gardening thing, and the term "green-thumb" would really only apply because I'm not a seasoned gardener! You could say I'm still "green" and have a lot of maturing to do! I'm pretty enthusiastic when I plop my fresh new plants into the early spring soil, but I can be found furrowing my brow in frustration when the signs of disease or pest show up! I google, and try to diagnose, but often my enthusiasm starts to wain and I'm left with sad little, half eaten or curled up leaves on my once happy plants! Instead of giving them the patience to pull through, I'm ready to serve them eviction papers and give them a week to get their act together!
Experience is the best form of learning though, so I remind myself it's not a sign of bad gardening to lose a plant to a herd of snails! They're a part of nature, but learning a few tricks of the trade can help drive them out of my sanctuary and back to the plants I don't intend to make my lunch out of! And in case they don't get hint...I'll be back out tomorrow morning just as early and I won't be feeling nearly as nice!
Happy gardening to those of you who enjoy it, and I'd love to know some of your secrets or little trick to "green-up" my thumb a little more!
